FIFA World Cup

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Senior FIFA executive says staff were deceived over Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA’s chief operating officer said its staff were deceived by their president Gianni Infantino’s World Cup sell-off plan, and suggested on Friday the project must not go ahead.

https://apnews.com/article/cordeiro-infantino-fifa-executive-world-cup-4cff20f6e2dda925e6d5395b56dcf9ab?

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Infantino abandons plans to sell World Cup profits to private equity following massive pushback

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA President Gianni Infantino is abandoning his divisive plan to sell World Cup profits to private equity after receiving pushback from all corners of the soccer world.

https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-infantino-fifa-investors-8aba1b529f220c27d02d326e8fd9e377?

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⚽️ FIFA drop-kicks private equity plan

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images FIFA has dropped plans to form a commercial subsidiary backed by up to $4.2 billion in private investment, Axios' Dan Primack reports. The deal was subject to ratification by FIFA's 211 national football governing bodies, but it never got to a final vote. Instead, it was preemptively rejected by regional confederations in Europe (UEFA), North/Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC). 💰 The deal would've been led by Joshua Kushner's Thrive Eternal, which believed it would provide more financial resources to smaller and/or poorer countries. But Thrive misread the politics and the psychology involved, including a lack of trust in FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Go deeper.

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⚽️ FIFA letter laments "breach of trust"

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Three of soccer's top governing bodies said today that FIFA president Gianni Infantino's recent plan to sell an interest in the World Cup was a "fundamental breach of trust." 📝 In an "open letter to the football family," UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC wrote: "When trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned." UEFA runs soccer in Europe, CONCACAF does so in North and Central America and the Caribbean, and the AFC governs the sport in Asia. The plan was abandoned following immediate and intense pushback. FIFA apologized last week for the way it was handled, and some senior staff reaffirmed support for Infantino's leadership. Go deeper ... Read the letter.